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Screenshot 2023-12-31 at 10-57-26 Walt Disney Animation Studios' Steamboat Willie - YouTube

As of today, the copyright protection for the “Steamboat Willie” version of Mickey Mouse has lapsed, meaning it is in the public domain.

What can and can’t you do with this, as of January 1, 2024? As Duke lawprof Jennifer Jenkins writes as “Mickey, Disney, and the Public Domain: a 95-year Love Triangle,” you have to be a bit careful:

Steamboat Willie and the characters it depicts – which include both Mickey and Minnie Mouse – will be in the public domain. As indicated in the green circle, this means that anyone can share, adapt, or remix that material. You can start your creative engines too—full steam ahead! You could take a page out of the Winnie-the-Pooh: the Deforested Edition playbook and create “Steamboat Willie: the Climate Change Edition,” in which Mickey’s boat is grounded in a dry riverbed. You could

Continue Reading Happy New Year: Say Goodbye To The Right To Exclude, Steamboat Willie